Keep me safe
by Kerriss
Summary: Kurt is late back to Dalton from a weekend at home but Blaine's relief at seeing his boyfriend is short lived. Something is badly wrong with Kurt but Blaine doesn't know what. Established Klaine. Warnings - violence, swearing, homophobic language. I don't own Glee or any of the characters.
1. Chapter 1

**Just to clarify, Kurt is at Dalton, established Klaine and all the boys mentioned are juniors. I would love to know your thoughts on the storyline.**

Sat

18.15 How was your coffee date? 

20.49 Wes and David are driving me mad. Wish you were here to keep me sane! 

22.45 I'm guessing coffee has turned into a girls sleepover! Have fun, can't wait to see you tomorrow. 

Sun

10.32 When are you getting back? 

13.10 Are you going to be back for dinner? 

16.00 I'm so bored, please text me and cheer me up! 

19.45 Come and see me when you get here. 

20.00 Missed call Blaine 

20.40 Missed call Blaine 

21.30 OK, it's curfew in 30 minutes so I'm guessing you're not coming back tonight. Can you at least text me, I'm getting worried. 

22.45 I'm going to try and get some sleep. Please let me know you are OK. 

Mon

7.15 Kurt - where are you? I'm officially worried. 

8.00 Missed call Blaine 

8.25 I need to go to class. I don't know if you are mad at me or something but please let me know you are OK. No one's answering your home phone either. 

12.20 So English lit was really boring, I had no one to talk to. David is trying to fit a whole egg in his mouth at once and Wes thinks it's the funniest thing ever! 

16.00 It's Warbler practise in a minute so I need to switch off my phone but Kurt please text me even if it's to say stop stalking you! 

19.10 Missed call – Blaine 

19.45_ On my way back now. Should just make it before curfew._

"Hey, there you are"

"Hi Blaine"

Blaine was just on his way back from studying with Nick and Jeff and was delighted to see his boyfriend opening the door to his dorm room. He bounded over and put his hand on Kurt's arm to draw him in for a kiss. A short hiss came from Kurt as he jumped back.

"You OK?" Blaine's brow furrowed and he took a step back assessing the taller boy.

"Fine, just…. stubbed my toe."

"Hey what happened to your face?" asked the curly haired teenager noticing the large, purple bruise on Kurt's left cheek.

"Oh, it's nothing. I slipped on the stairs, I'm clearly having a clumsy streak," Kurt laughed backing towards the room but Blaine wasn't convinced. Kurt was one of the most graceful people he knew. However every inch of Kurt's body was screaming 'move away from me' so Blaine took another step back disregarding how much he wanted to curl up and cuddle Kurt, after all he hadn't seen him since Friday, almost 3 days.

"So how come you missed school today? Did you get my messages?"

"Sorry my phone's been playing up, it wouldn't let me respond."

"Oh, that's too bad. Is it fixed now?" What sort of phone doesn't let you reply to messages, thought Blaine.

"Yeah I think so."

"So how come you missed school?"

Kurt looked right into his boyfriend's beautiful hazel eyes, "Look, I know I owe you an explanation but it's been a really long day and I need to get some homework done before I crash. Can we talk another time?"

Blaine could tell something was badly wrong, Kurt wouldn't talk or let him come near but clearly he needed some time. Tomorrow was another day after all.

"Sure, you get some sleep and don't worry about the homework. I'll see you for breakfast tomorrow." Blaine wanted to give him a kiss but as he had reacted so badly to the first one he decided against it and left Kurt to go into his room. Feeling completely confused by the short conversation Blaine headed back to his own dorm and fell asleep watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, one of his favourite films.

The next morning Blaine went to Kurt's room to see if he was coming to breakfast. After knocking three times the door finally opened a slither and Kurt peeped out through half shut eyes. Seeing Blaine he opened the door properly and pulled down the sleeves of his old McKinley High sweatshirt, over his hands before sitting on the bed. Blaine came in slowly, unsure why things seemed so strange.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" he asked as he made his way over to sit next to Kurt. As he sat down the other boy got up and walked across the room to the wardrobe.

"Not a lot. I didn't really want to get up."

"Shall I tell the office you are sick, then you could stay in bed, catch up on some work, whatever you want."

"Thanks but I missed yesterday so I really can't lose another day. Look I'm clearly not ready and to be honest I'm not that hungry so why don't you go for breakfast and I'll see you in English." Kurt gave Blaine a half smile and turned his attention to finding socks.

"Erm ok then, I guess I'll see you later," and blinking back tears Blaine left the room. As he walked down to the dining hall he was getting more and more distressed. He had spent Sunday wondering when Kurt was coming back and then worrying because he wasn't answering any messages. He was so stressed on Monday as there had been no sign of Kurt and again no messages and now Kurt was acting like he didn't want him near.

By the time he reached the dining hall he was so worked up that he wasn't sure he would be able to keep breakfast down. He just took some toast and coffee and spotting Wes and David went to sit with them. One look at Blaine's face told them something was wrong but what?

"Have you heard from Kurt yet?" Wes asked straight. They knew Blaine had been trying to get in touch and hadn't heard back.

"Yes, he arrived back last night."

"Well is that not good? Now you know where he is!" said David trying to lighten the mood.

Blaine took a deep breath, "Something's not right, he's barely speaking to me and you didn't see the state of him this morning."

"So he's a bit tired and doesn't want to get into a long chat. Maybe he had a fight with his dad or Finn. Actually knowing Kurt he's probably worried that he's not finished an essay or something like that," Wes said trying to lift Blaine's spirit. "You'll see him in English and Music and then again at practise, by the time it's dinner you'll be sick of the sight of each other!"

At that moment Nick and Jeff arrived at the table and the talk immediately turned to the upcoming football game that Wes and Jeff were involved in. Blaine tried to relax and join in but couldn't help his mind wandering back to Kurt and the way he had pulled back from him the night before.

Suddenly there was a hand waving in front of his face and he looked up to see Nick and Jeff laughing at him.

"Tempting as it is to leave you here no doubt day dreaming about Kurt that was the warning bell and we would hate you to be late for class. We'll send Kurt your love in history," Nick said blowing kisses as he walked off.

Much as he would have liked to go to history with them to check on Kurt he didn't think his maths teacher would appreciate him cutting class so with a deep sigh he got up and quickly made his way to his first lesson. 

Kurt was already sitting in history when Jeff and Nick arrived. He had been late before and was well aware of Mr Taylor's attitude towards tardiness. The two Warblers fell into the room laughing about something clearly hilarious and took their seats in front of Kurt.

"Morning Kurt, don't know what you've done to Blaine this morning but he was so deep in thought he missed the warning bell," giggled Jeff turning round. "Woah," he said noticing the bruise, "what the hell happened?"

"I just slipped and fell, nothing exciting."

"Does Blaine know?"

"What that I'm a complete clutz? Yes, he's seen the bruise if that's what you mean."

"Oh maybe he was thinking of ways to kiss it better," said Nick giggling but quickly falling silent as the strict teacher entered the room.


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not have any medical training beyond basic first aid so I'm taking liberties with my story. I don't know how realistic what I have written is but it makes sense to me! There are probably another 2 chapters to go after this.**

Blaine was already in his seat when Kurt entered the English room. He knew he wouldn't be able to avoid him all day so Kurt had taken the longest possible route arriving just as the bell rang for the start of the lesson. Sitting down slowly Kurt took out his book and pen and looked to the front of the room where Mr Adams was opening up the new slide on the computer.

"You look a lot better than you did this morning," Blaine leaned forward and whispered in Kurt's ear. "How was history?"

"Fine, Nick and Jeff were full of the joys."

"Well you know what they are like. Are you sure…" Blaine's question fell short as Mr Adams began to speak and both boys had to turn their attention to the board.

It was one of these lessons with a lot of class discussion and little space for chatting which Kurt was glad about. He didn't want to talk to Blaine because he knew all he wanted to hear about was the weekend and Kurt's arm was really hurting and his bruised ribs were objecting to sitting upright for so long. Carole had tried to persuade him to stay at home for the week but Kurt was terrified of how much work he would have to catch up on if he missed an entire week of school. His dad had refused to let him drive, his arm was too sore so Finn had driven him over last night, bringing Rachel too so he had company on the drive back. His mind was racing so much trying to compartmentalise all that had happened in the last few days along with desperately trying to follow what Mr Adams was saying that he didn't notice everyone looking at him until Blaine gently tapped his hand and pointed to the door.

Standing there in her white uniform was Nurse Andrews with a smile on her face. "Can you come with me Kurt? Bring your bag, you won't be back this lesson."

Kurt had been very thankful that it was his left arm that was injured so no one noticed in class as he could still write but it did make it hard for him to do simple things like hold his bag open and put stuff away. His hand was shaking as he tried to push his notebook inside and it kept catching on his history textbook. Suddenly Blaine's hand was on top of his, steadying him and guiding the book in smoothly.

Kurt gave him a small smile of thanks and turned towards the door. He had not missed the look of concern of Blaine's face as he failed to do such a simple task on his own.

He slowly followed the nurse out of the room noting as he did that there was still half the lesson left, well it wasn't as if he had managed to take in much of the lesson anyway so he might as well get all the notes from Blaine.

Blaine felt sick, all his fears from last night came flooding back. Something was wrong with Kurt and he wasn't sure if it was to do with him. He had glanced over at Kurt repeatedly during the lesson and his boyfriend may have been there in body but he certainly wasn't in mind. He had been staring ahead the whole time, as if looking to the board but Blaine would have put money on the fact he wasn't seeing anything written there. The biggest indicator to Blaine was that Kurt hadn't written a single thing during the whole lesson, Kurt loved taking notes, in fact it was one of the things Blaine teased him about most. His eyebrows furrowed as he thought about the way Kurt had left, everything seemed to move slowly and he looked as if he was about to cry when he couldn't get his book in his bag, it was all so strange and wrong.

"Mr Anderson, whenever you are ready to join us," Mr Adams said, not quite smiling at him. He tapped at something on the board and Blaine muttered an apology before trying to focus back on the lesson.

Kurt walked slowly behind Nurse Andrews through the corridors to the medical suite. He knew his dad had called the school yesterday so it wasn't a complete surprise that she wanted to see him but he hated being taken out of class with everyone looking at him. He thought back to Blaine's hand on his, helping him with the book. He always felt safe with Blaine, he always knew that touch was from love and friendship but then he remembered the look of anguish in the beautiful hazel eyes and he wanted to curl up and cry again.

Once Blaine had left on Monday evening Kurt had done just that. Climbed onto his bed and just cried for hours. The weekend had been wonderful right up to Saturday afternoon and then it felt like it had all come crashing down. The worst part for Kurt was he couldn't see how he could pick it all up again. 

"You know your dad told me about the attack," Nurse Andrews immediately began with no beating about the bush. Kurt nodded meekly. "I need to check your cut and change the dressing and I want to check out your ribs too. Your dad mentioned that you were advised to rest but you insisted on coming back to school."

"I didn't want to miss too much work," Kurt mumbled.

"Fair enough but if you get too tired or the pain becomes too much you must come and see me. Understand." Kurt nodded knowing it would have to be really bad before he would give in and see the nurse. "Right take off your blazer and shirt and lie down on the bed."

Kurt did as she said, wincing as he tried to bend his left arm. The nurse came back into the room with a tray of dressings and antiseptic which she placed on the little table next to the bed. Very slowly she pulled off the long dressing which ran the length of Kurt's forearm. He hissed slightly as it caught on his arm hairs and she made small cooing noises to try and calm him.

"That's quite a cut," she said surprised. She hadn't had much to do with Kurt but he always seemed a sweet kid, she couldn't understand why anyone would want to hurt him. "Ok, this is going to sting a bit but I need to give it a clean again," and she gently began to wipe antiseptic over the wound. "Looks like you needed quite a few stitches there."

"45," Kurt muttered through clenched teeth, the antiseptic really did sting.

"Did they not give you a sling to wear at the hospital? If you keep the arm hanging like that you are likely to knock it on something and dislodge some of the stitches. I should have one in the cupboard."

"No it's fine, they gave me one. It's in my bag," the teenager replied. "I just thought as long as I was careful I could avoid wearing it."

"May I?" said Nurse Andrews gesturing to the bag and retrieving the sling. "Kurt, as careful as you may try to be you are still in a school and boarding house full of teenage boys who get up to all sorts of ridiculous things. I understand you don't want to stand out but at the moment you shouldn't have a big scar, it may heal almost invisibly but if you keep getting the cut ripped open by careless actions then you may not be so lucky."

Kurt nodded, not so much in agreement but in acceptance. If he didn't wear the sling his dad would probably find out and make him and he certainly wanted as small a scar as possible, Saturday was not a day he wanted reminded about.

Once Nurse Andrews had changed the dressing on Kurt's arm she had insisted on checking his ribs, as much as she could without an x-ray and also had a look at the bruise on his cheek which was now quite a dark purple. As she worked she watched Kurt's face closely and could feel the fatigue. He clearly hadn't slept properly in a few days which was understandable but she figured he needed sleep more than anything.

The bell had already rung for the next lesson by the time she finished and she told Kurt just to lie down for a moment while she went to put the dressings away. As she suspected he had fallen asleep by the time she came back through so she pulled the curtain round to give him some privacy and went back to her little office to let his home economics teacher know he was with her and write up her notes. 

Blaine managed to get through the rest of English Lit unscaved and thankfully Geography had been pretty challenging, enough that he hadn't had a chance to think about Kurt. Now however it was lunchtime and as he wandered over towards the dining hall he wondered if Kurt would be there. He had realised pretty early on in their relationship that when things went wrong Kurt tended to hide away, miss meals and cut himself off. He had a feeling he wouldn't come to lunch so Blaine decided to get a sandwich for him and go find him once he had eaten.

Sitting down at the table with a group of Warblers he saw Nick and Jeff make their way over to him.

"You and Kurt had a fight?" Jeff said with a smirk.

"Why?" Blaine replied hesitantly, worrying what Kurt had said in History.

"I'm joking, don't look so frightened. I just meant that's quite a bruise he's got."

"So what, now you're going round implying we had an argument and I hit him. Not everyone gets your sense of humour Jeff, that's not funny!"

"Hey relax. We haven't mentioned it to anyone else."

"Where is Kurt anyway?" asked Eddie joining the table. "I was sure he was in history but he certainly wasn't in Home Ecc which was a shame because I could really have used his help with the recipe…."

Eddie kept talking but Blaine's mind had started to wander again. The nurse had taken him out of English but surely he couldn't have been with her the whole time. He ate quickly, leaving half his lunch and grabbing the sandwich off the plate he headed over to the dorms where he was sure Kurt must be.

After knocking for several minutes Blaine left Kurt's room, either he wasn't in, was asleep or was ignoring him. None of the options made him feel particularly happy but a glance of his watch told him the warning bell would go soon and having forgotten his homework for yesterday's Italian lesson Blaine knew better than to turn up late today. Either Kurt would be in music in which case he could relax or he wouldn't and then Blaine could continue his endless worrying. He sent Kurt a quick text to ask if everything had been alright at the nurse once he was safely seated in Italian before he tried to focus on the lesson.


	3. Chapter 3

**Just a reminder that I have no proper medical training (or police/ law training), I've just gone with what feels right for the story. **

He was aware of a strange noise as he slowly opened his eye lids. The room was semi dark and it took him a moment to realise he wasn't in his dorm but rather the medical suite. Kurt tried to sit up letting out a yelp as he pushed on his injured arm, a hot jolt shooting up the arm and a different duller achy feeling in his ribs.

Nurse Andrews came rushing through and seeing Kurt awake helped him into a sitting position before she turned on the lights. He heard the strange noise again before he realised it was his phone, someone had sent him a text, even without looking he knew it would be from Blaine.

"What time is it?" Kurt asked quietly.

"Just after 2pm."

Blinking a few times to try and clear the sleepy fog Kurt remembered that the nurse had brought him to change his dressing. A blush rising in his cheeks he realised he must have fallen asleep.

Correctly reading his body language Nurse Andrews leaned over to check his dressing was still intact and said, "I asked you to lie down while I checked your ribs but when I left to put things away you fell asleep. You looked like you hadn't slept much last night so in the interest of your health I let you sleep on. You've slept for nearly 3 hours. Now wait there a moment and I'll get you something to eat."

Kurt wasn't the least bit interested in eating, he had missed the whole of home economics and now most of French. He was going to be in trouble for cutting classes and that was the last thing he needed.

"Kurt you look upset, what's wrong?" the blonde adult asked and then realised as he looked towards his bag and the door. "I emailed your teachers, they know you are here. I'd rather you stayed here for the rest of the day or went back to your dorm but something tells me you aren't going to."

"No I want to return to my classes, I don't want to fall further behind."

"OK Kurt, here's the deal. You eat the sandwich, drink the juice and I check your blood pressure is alright and I will let you go to your last two classes provided you wear the sling. I need to see you at some point tomorrow to change your dressing again. If I see you without the sling I will have you signed off and send you home until your doctor says the stitches are out. You know that you are signed off all sports for 4 weeks minimum, again until the doctor says you are able to compete. Finally Kurt if you are in pain you come and see me, the teachers know that you were in an accident so they won't stop you. I'll let you eat now, next class starts in 20 minutes."

With that Nurse Andrews left the room and Kurt was faced with a carton of apple juice and a cheese roll. He really did not want to eat anything, his stomach was churning but he knew if he wanted to go to music he had to finish both. As he chewed he remembered the text message that had woken him and also the fact he was about to see Blaine. He loved his music class and especially the fact it was with Blaine (and David and Wes) but he was also pretty apprehensive. He knew Blaine would be worried and he hadn't been very nice to his boyfriend last night or this morning.

He pulled his phone out of the bag with a big sigh, he hated making Blaine upset and he knew that's what he had done. He needed to find a way to make it up to him without explaining about the weekend, he wasn't ready for that yet.

Smiling slightly at Blaine's message he sent a quick message back:

**I'm fine. See you in music.**

Nurse Andrews came in just as Kurt was putting his phone back in his bag. She smiled at him seeing that he had eaten his lunch.

"That's good Kurt, well done. Now let's sort out your uniform and get the sling comfortable. I'll pin the left sleeve of your blazer so it doesn't flap around as you walk."

Kurt was about to argue about not needing the sling but as he opened his mouth he saw the petite nurse take a deep breath, clearly about to lay down the law again and he remembered her threat of having him sent home until his stitches were taken out. He sat up straight and allowed her to fit it, tightening the straps at his neck so it sat at just the right height.

"If you just unclip here at night then you can slide the sling off like this and then back on in the morning," she said showing him the little tricks. "Here's a couple of pain killers to get you through the rest of the afternoon and remember if the pain gets too much you come and see me."

By this time the warning bell had already rung and Kurt was getting agitated. He didn't think he would get in trouble from Mrs Daniels for being a minute or two late but he couldn't be sure. Gulping down the tablets and water he grabbed his bag and went to run out the door before Nurse Andrews blocked his way.

"Kurt," she said sternly, "You are not permitted to rush anywhere. Here is a late slip for your next class and I will notify all your teachers that you may be late. You must take care, I don't want you to injure yourself anymore." Thanking the nurse Kurt cautiously made his way out into the corridor and towards his music class.

….

"Will you stop freaking out?" said Wes half serious, half amused. Blaine was going crazy starring at the music room door and repeatedly checking his phone.

"So where is he then? You don't text to say you'll see someone in class and then just not turn up!"

"Maybe he's just running late, perhaps he got held up in French."

"No, I checked his classroom as I walked by and there was no one there. And I saw Adam on the way here and he said Kurt hadn't been in French." Blaine was almost hyperventilating, his panic reaching epic proportions and his eyes were still on the door when Mrs Daniels stood right next to him continuing talking about chords. This was enough to bring Blaine out of his daze and he looked towards the teacher with a nod of apology.

After a few minutes Mrs Daniels handed out sheets and gave them five minutes in their groups to complete the chord sequences. Just as she handed out the last sheet the door opened and Kurt walked in. Blaine had never been so relieved and then he spotted the sling and looked at David and Wes in surprise.

Kurt kept his eyes down, knowing he would have to face enough stares and went over to the teacher. He handed her the late slip and glancing over it quickly she nodded at the young boy.

"If you join your group they'll explain what we're doing."

Kurt made his way over to the group and placing his bag on the table turned to smile at Blaine. "Hi," he said cautiously.

"An accident at the nurse," said Blaine pointing at the sling very confused.

"Erm no, I should have been wearing it this morning and last night. She's threatened me, told me I have to wear it."

"Boys at the back, I don't think that is chord structure you are discussing. Back to task please," the teacher's voice was calm but the message very clear.

"We'll talk later," said Blaine quietly before raising his voice, "so if we take the all sharps out of these chords how does that effect this chord pattern." The other three boys giggled and Kurt felt a wave of love go through him despite his fear of having to talk to Blaine 'later'.

Mrs Daniels had just explained to the class that in the fifteen minutes of the lesson they had left they were to start formulating questions to use in their group presentations to be held in three weeks time. There was a quiet buzz around the room as the groups started to throw around ideas and Blaine was finally starting to relax as he listened to Kurt talk about Mr Shue's bizarre passion for disco music.

Wes took over talking about his mum knowing the words to every Beatles song when Blaine noticed Kurt's hand was trembling badly. He looked over and saw his face was almost white as he starred intently at the door. Mrs Daniels was over talking to the dean and behind them stood two police officers. Before Blaine could say anything Mrs Daniels was over at the table and very quietly asked Kurt to gather his things as the dean needed to see him straight away.

Nodding his head slightly Kurt stood up and tried to put his music notebook in his bag but his hand was shaking so much he couldn't manage. David and Wes were watching with matching puzzled expressions, from their position in the room they couldn't see the officers and didn't understand this sudden change in Kurt's behaviour.

Again Blaine stepped in and put the book in the bag and then gave Kurt's hand a squeeze before whispering "Courage." Kurt tried to smile but could not disguise the terror on his face and he walked out of the room as bravely as he could. Blaine wanted to chase after him, find out what was going on and protect his boyfriend but while Kurt had clearly been frightened he didn't seem particularly surprised.

The arrival of the police had, of course, caused great excitement in the classroom and any thought of work had been forgotten. Being up in the corner David and Wes were still in the dark, unable to make out any of the whispered conversations.

"Hey Blaine, what's going on? Where's Kurt going?" asked David, kicking Blaine under the table to bring his attention back from the door.

"The dean was here with two police officers, they want to talk to Kurt. So Wes I guess Kurt won't be at practise today."

At that moment Mrs Daniels began playing scales on the piano, her sign for the boys to stop talking and sing along. Blaine's eyes stayed trained on the door however as he hoped Kurt would reappear quickly but sensing he wasn't going to get any answers tonight.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here is the final chapter. This is the first time I've written anything like this and I'd love to hear what you thought about it and the way it ends.**

**Warning – this chapter contains the attack on Kurt so some violence and homophobic language as well as some swearing. Again I am not medically trained or have any particular knowledge of American law procedures so it's probably not very accurate.**

As Kurt left the music room one of the officers immediately asked his name and address. Satisfied they had the correct student the group walked down to the dean's office. Kurt was very glad it was still class time so they only passed two students, neither of whom Kurt recognised. As they reached the office Kurt saw his dad and Carole sitting inside, both with cups of coffee which were untouched. Carole immediately jumped up and hugged Kurt, albeit very carefully and then his dad did the same. Dean Archibald indicated a chair and Kurt sat down and looked at the officers expectantly.

"Kurt, as you know we arrested David Karowsky, Azimo Adams and Matt Taylor for the attack on Saturday afternoon. Their lawyers are making all sorts of accusations, throwing other names into the hat and pretty much they are denying everything."

Kurt almost laughed, why was he not surprised. Two of the boys had made his life a living hell for almost three years, the last few months particularly bad prompting his move to Dalton. He thought it the bullying would be over now that he wasn't at school with them but it had been his bad luck to meet them on Saturday at the Lima Bean.

"Kurt," the officer continued slowly, "we need you to come back to the station with us. We need to go through your initial statement again, ask you some further questions etc. I warn you now that it's not going to be easy. Adams' brief is throwing up a lot of stories and rumours and it's getting pretty personal."

Hot tears were beginning to trickle down Kurt's face, he had thought the injuries would be enough this time to let him get back to Dalton and safety but clearly that wasn't the case. His dad reached over and grasped his hand, letting him know that however bad it got Burt wasn't going anywhere.

"As you are still legally a minor," the officer continued, "your dad will be present for the questioning. I need to remind you now that you are being interviewed as a witness, you are not under arrest and you are free to leave at any time. However anything you do say can and may be used in the court of law. Do you understand?"

A brief nod of the head was sufficient for the officer to carry on. "We would like you and your dad to come with us in the police car, your step-mother will drive the family car back to Lima." The officer looked over at Kurt with compassion, he had a son of 14 and couldn't imagine what this family were going through. "I understand you board here, do you need to pick up anything for tonight, I don't think we'll be finished until quite late."

"No, I have everything I need at home."

"Right let's get going then."

As the group stood to leave the dean stood next to Kurt and smiled, gently patting him on the shoulder, "No one should have to deal with this Kurt, let alone at your age. Be strong and remember you have good friends here who will do all they can to support you." Kurt tried to smile in reply but his mouth just twisted in a weird grimace. "Oh and Kurt, I don't expect to see you back until lunchtime tomorrow, even dinner. I will let your teachers know you will be absent."

…..

…..

Mrs Daniels eventually gave up trying to reign the boys in, dismissing them five minutes early with a stern warning not to disturb other classes. As soon as she walked out of the room everyone immediately turned towards Blaine and started firing off questions.

"Has Kurt been arrested?

"Is this to do with the bruise on his face? Was he in a fight?"

"Did he have a car accident? I hope he wasn't driving after drinking."

As the questions continued and got increasingly ridiculous Blaine climbed on his chair and waited for everyone to be quiet.

"Look, I don't know why the police were here nor do I know what they want to speak to Kurt about. As far as I know he hasn't broken any laws but as you can all clearly see something has happened. I know I'm Kurt's boyfriend but he's only been back one day and we have spent that time in class so I'm sorry to disappoint you all but I don't have any juicy gossip."

At that he jumped off his chair and began to pack his bag. He knocked his pen on the floor and as he bent down to retrieve it he noticed something flashing, Kurt's mobile. Realising it must have fallen out of Kurt's bag as he picked it up Blaine also recognised that his prime mode of contact with Kurt was in his hand and not his boyfriends. Quickly jumping up on his chair again he shouted "Oh and I've got Kurt's mobile here, he dropped it, so you can all stop trying to contact him."

Walking from the room with Wes on one side and David on the other Blaine just made it into the bathroom stall before throwing up. His nerves were shot, he didn't know how much more of this drama he could take but at the same time if this was how he was feeling then how on earth was Kurt coping.

The two Warblers took him over to a side sitting room to let him regain control. Wes brought him some water and the three sat in silence trying to take it all in. After a few moments Blaine pulled out his own mobile and send Finn a text:

**Please let Kurt know I've got his mobile, he left it in music.** **Blaine.**

"There," said Blaine bluntly, "it's the only useful thing I can do right now but at least he won't panic about his phone!" and with that he broke down completely. David pulled him into an embrace and Wes rubbed his back, it was all they could do to help and the three felt completely useless.

…..

Kurt lay on his back staring up at his bedroom ceiling, tears running freely down his cheeks. The police interview hadn't been as bad as he feared and he actually felt better having been calm enough to give a full account of the afternoon events. He was surprised by how bad he felt for Karowsky and Azimo, sure they had made his life hell but he was pretty sure neither of them would ever have pulled a knife on him. They were bullies but not idiots. They knew the limits you could push someone to without ending up in trouble with the police. This new guy though was something else, he had a wild look in his eye and a sneer that scared Kurt more than anything the other two had ever said or done.

As he closed his eyes he couldn't stop his mind wandering back to last Saturday.

_He had arranged to meet Mercedes and Tina at the Lima Bean and the three of them had a great time catching up. Of course Kurt was grilled continually on his relationship with Blaine but it had been really nice to talk about it freely without being judged or teased in the way only boys know how. He heard all the gossip from Glee Club and the current state of Finn and Rachel's relationship, always good to know properly what was going on._

_Just before 5 the three friends left and walked to the car park, Tina was giving Mercedes a lift home so Kurt waved them off and as he turned to get in his car he realised that he had left his jacket inside. He retrieved it and was just about to open the car door when he felt strong arms grab him and pull him behind the dustbins. He immediately recognised Karowsky and Azimo but they clearly had a new friend._

"_Look the fairy's back in town," said Azimo with a grin._

"_Where are your preppy friends today, all alone?" continued Karowsky, "don't worry we'll keep you company."_

"_As long as we don't catch anything," said the new guy._

"_Oh don't worry about this fairy," laughed Azimo, "he doesn't fight back, and even if he did what can he do." With that Kurt felt all the air leave his body as Azimo kicked him hard in the stomach._

_He was trapped, he tried to scream but Karowsky grabbed his hair and yanked his head back whispering right in his ear, "Don't even try it princess." Time stood still, it could have been a few minutes or a few hours, Kurt didn't know or care, the three of them taunted him while kicks and hits continued to rain down on his body. He was curled up into a tiny ball, trying to protect himself but the pain in his chest told him he probably had at least badly bruised ribs and his back and legs were going to be covered in bruises again._

_Suddenly it all stopped and he cracked open one eye to see Karowsky and Azimo yelling at the new guy not to be stupid and that was enough. His eyes barely registered a flash of silver before a red hot pain ripped up his arm and he screamed louder than he thought possible. He was sort of aware of raised voices, running feet, chaos around him but he couldn't be sure as his world was engulfed by a black fog._

…

_Cracking his eye lids slightly Kurt was blinded by light, he tried to lift his arm to cover his eyes and screamed, red hot pokers shot up and down from his fingers to elbow. He felt a strong hand pull his hand down gently and a gruff voice said, "Thank god you're awake, you've had us so worried." As he turned his head slightly he saw his dad hunched up on the chair, tear marks drying on his face._

"_What happened?" Kurt croaked. Burt rose and got a glass of water, after helping Kurt take a drink a nurse bustled in to assess his condition and Burt's only reply was, "you got hurt."_

_After twenty minutes the doctor and nurse left the room again and Kurt was alone with his father. Burt explained he had been found at the back of the Lima Bean and that three of the McKinley jocks were being held on suspicion of GBH. The doctor had already talked through his injuries with him and explained that as he had been unconscious, as a result of the head trauma he would remain in hospital until Sunday afternoon so they could monitor him._

_Kurt tried to digest all the information but the doctor told him he needed rest and gave him a couple of pain killers. He tried to tell his dad to contact Blaine but the world went black again as the pills kicked in before he had a chance to say anything._

….

In the end Kurt did not get back to Dalton until Wednesday evening. He had been forced to go and see the doctor again as his ribs were causing him so much pain and she had increased the dose on his pain medication. She had also taken more x-rays which confirmed that three ribs were cracked, rather than just one. His parents had been even more reluctant to let him back with this new news but Kurt was an expert at playing his dad and eventually Burt had consented, on the strict basis he wore his sling and didn't exert himself.

Burt drove Kurt back this time, he wasn't happy about it but there was no way his son was up to driving plus it had given him a chance to talk in the car. By the time they got to Dalton Kurt was fed up being lectured on wearing his sling, not discussing the finer details of the case (on police advice) and how he needed to relax and not stress himself out. Agreeing with his dad for the millionth time (or so it felt) Kurt gave him a hug and his dad gently hugged him back with one final warning about taking care of himself and Kurt began to walk to his dorm.

The closer he got the more his nerves kicked in. He had used Finn's phone to text Blaine last night to say he wouldn't be back and again this afternoon to say he would return in the evening but hadn't had any reply, or at least none that Finn was sharing (no, Kurt was sure that Finn would have told him!) There was less than an hour before curfew and Kurt seriously considered going for a walk round the grounds until that time, at least then he wouldn't have to talk to Blaine. All day he had lain around the house (on Carole's instructions to rest) and kept seeing the haunted look in Blaine's eyes as he left the music class. He hated himself for causing his wonderful boyfriend so much pain – was he even still his boyfriend, maybe Blaine thought Kurt had done something dreadful and wouldn't want anything to do with him. 'No', thought Kurt, 'calm down and speak with Blaine, what's the worst that could happen' and then he really wished he had never asked that question!

As he entered the building he could hear shouting and cheers coming from the common room, judging by the escaped balloons it was clearly someone's birthday, he had a feeling it might be Jack's 16th, he could remember signing a card last week. At least the party meant everyone was in the one place and he didn't meet anyone going up the stairs. He figured Blaine would be there too so he went to his own room first to drop off his bag and write a quick note.

_I'm back. Can you drop off my phone if you have a moment? X_

Maybe the kiss was too much but then again maybe it needed more kisses – aarrgghhh, why does this all have to be so complicated, he thought.

He slipped out and walked along to Blaine's room to stick the note on his door when he heard gentle strumming. Tentatively he knocked on the door and a second later his boyfriend opened the door, he looked absolutely exhausted with dark rings under his eyes. It took less than a second for a grin to appear on his face though.

"You're back, I've been so worried," he reached out to grab Kurt's hand then changed his mind.

"Can I come in?" Kurt asked quietly. As Blaine moved aside to let him in the room he asked, "Why are you not down at the party with everyone else?"

"I've not been the best company the last few days. I didn't really feel very sociable." Hearing this Kurt could feel tears running down his cheeks as he sat down on the bed.

"I'm so sorry Blaine, I never meant any of this to happen. This is all my fault, if I wasn't such an idiot. I hate to see you so upset…"Kurt began to ramble, tears now streaming down his face.

Blaine knelt down in front of him, and took his hand, gently rubbing circles round it, "Ssshhh, don't apologise for anything. Yes I've been really worried about you but I'm allowed to be," he put a finger gently over Kurt's lip as the taller boy tried to speak. "I love you so much Kurt and it has been killing me not knowing if you are alright. Well clearly you are not alright," he said with a smirk, "but the bruise looks a lot better than it did on Monday. More than anything though I've not been able to sit and talk to you for almost a week, the longest we've not spoken before is about 12 hours! I just feel like you've been through something awful and I haven't been there for you and it makes me a really terrible boyfriend."

Now it was Kurt's turn to put his finger on Blaine's lips to silence him. "You have been the most amazingly, wonderful and patient boyfriend I could wish for. I know I really upset you on Monday night by pulling away and on Tuesday morning but you were there for me in English and in Music. I saw all the texts you sent me over the weekend that I didn't reply to but there was a good reason. I saw the hurt and worry in your eyes when you saw the bruise and then when I came to music with this stupid sling. You've given me time to work out what to tell you and never put any pressure on me and I love you for that, more than I can possibly say. Oh and I love that you found my phone and now can I have it back please!"

Giggling Kurt held out his hand and as Blaine gave him back his beloved phone Kurt leaned gently forward and kissed him. As Blaine reciprocated the pain in his ribs made him hiss loudly and Blaine jumped back unsure what caused the obvious pain as he had been very careful not to touch Kurt's arm. "Sorry, three cracked ribs," Kurt said gently.

With a sigh, he lay down on the bed, a more comfortable position and gestured to Blaine to lie down too. Scared of causing more pain Blaine sat down on the floor beside the bed but still able to look right into his boyfriend's beautiful blue eyes. He took Kurt's hand gently in his, "You don't have to tell me what happened but it would really help to know what hurts, then I can try to avoid hurting you," he said trying to smile.

"It's not really a bedtime story," Kurt said gently, "and I'm not allowed to go into too much detail in case it ever reaches court but Karowsky, Azimo and some new guy Taylor jumped me at the Lima Bean on Saturday." After an initial glance at the anger in the hazel eyes Kurt turned his head towards the ceiling and told the light fitting allowing Blaine time to manage his emotions. "They dragged me behind the bins and after kicking me repeatedly Taylor pulled a knife. The other two didn't seem to know about it, they freaked out completely but he basically sliced right up my arm before throwing me against the wall which knocked me out."

The two boys sat in silence for few moments before Kurt felt able to look towards Blaine. Silent tears were running down his cheeks but in his eyes were pure anger. Aware of the blue eyes watching him Blaine faced him and opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to find the right words to say.

"I'm sorry," he eventually whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"What for? You didn't do anything."

"But neither did you," Blaine said sincerely, his eyes locking with Kurts. "You have never done anything to them and they pulled a knife on you, they cracked your ribs and bruised your beautiful skin again. It's so fucking unfair. I hate them, I hate them more than I have ever hated anyone."

Kurt carefully stood up and went over to where his boyfriend was now standing almost jumping trying to control his rage. Reaching forward he took both Blaine's hands and pulled him into an embrace. He held onto the shorter boy as tightly as he could without causing himself too much pain and muttered small calming words into his ear. Only when he felt Blaine's breathing return to an even pattern did Kurt ease his hold before reaching forward to very gently kiss Blaine's lips.

So quietly he was almost whispering Kurt said, "Yes they hurt me but I need you to heal me. It's not going to be easy, there will be more police questions, court dates, more hospital visits and," he said with a grin, "a mountain of homework to catch up on and I need you with me. I'm stronger than they think, that's why they hate me but they are not winning. They are not breaking me and they are not breaking you either. We are in this together," and stepping back from Blaine he looked deep in his eyes, "I hope we are in this together."

"Always."


End file.
